


The Nyan (Nine) Things I Hate About You

by Wavyscribe



Category: Arthurian Mythology, Arthurian Mythology & Related Fandoms, Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cat Spirit, Children, F/M, Fluff, Japanese Mythology - Freeform, M/M, Magic, Moody gods and other fun stuff, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 23:32:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8820721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wavyscribe/pseuds/Wavyscribe
Summary: [Ever since I met you, was waiting until I could see you again all that I could ever do?]A story of innocent love that grows to transcend even existential boundaries; of how one is able to leave behind a fundamental part of oneself just to be able to love someone else.Of stray cats and whimsical gods, of how love can be found in the most unexpected places and how it may be taken away in the blink of an eye, just when one expects it the least.Will our favourite dynamic duo make it through to the end or will they drift apart with but a bitter sweet memory of what could have been?





	1. Your quivering Fingertips that are always just a bit too cold

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there!
> 
> Welcome to a new fic of mine. Even though I should probably do some school work or even update my other fics this little gem of inspiration hit me like a bus out of nowhere (Totoro's cat bus maybe?).
> 
> There isn't close to enough awkward schoolboy AUs of Merlin characters (or really any at all), so I believe the yaoi gods have gifted me with this __~~seed~~ spark of inspiration.
> 
> So I hope you'll be having as much fun reading this fic as I had writing it.
> 
> Because the storyline is already planned out, if life doesn't drown me in lemons and I get good feedback, I'll try to update fairly scheduledly.
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time  
> Wavyscribe

The very first sensation I felt tugging at my half ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~-fading mind was that of careful fingertips ghosting over my wet fur, smoothing out the spots where clumps of soil and dirt marred the pure white. My head reeled with the sudden motion and I pawed at the unknown entity, more as a last attempt at weak protest than with the actual intent to defend myself.  
A few precious seconds ticked by; all the while a hand incessantly moved over me warming up frozen skin and stiffened joints. Starved and tired I lifted my head to take in a blurred face, then I laid back to sleep for what was probably the last time in my short life.

_At least it was going to end with an anonymous act of kindness, one I had never held for possible until then,_ I think as I drifted off to the tunes of slightly off whistling and a minute, now familiar, swaying of the warm and firm pair of arms I rest on.

~*~

"...He'll be on our school exchange program for a while, so please, do be nice to him, alright?"

Blank, uninterested faces looked back at the teacher and she gave a long-suffering sigh.

"Have I made myself understood, class?"

She asked, her hands firmly planted on her hips and her gaze daring the disinterested students to make a sound. The attendance list swayed a bit in its position precariously sandwiched between the hem and left sleeve of her crisp blouse - as if to lend emphasis to her stern words.

A chorus of something vaguely affirmative echoed through the classroom, bouncing off the empty blackboard and abandoned house plants. Whatever she thought she had caught from the chaotic intermingling of voices seemed to appease her and she relented with a last nod to the sitting students.

Rightening her thin-framed glasses once more, the teacher opened the door and stepped aside to let in a dark-haired boy who had been haphazardly thrown into their school uniform. He took a few cautious steps with his eyes downcast to stand in front of the tall blackboard and... waited, unsure of himself. When the teacher realised that he wasn't going to make another sound willingly, she gave another long-suffering sigh and clapped her hands twice in quick succession. A bright and sharp sound rang through the quiet room, reflecting off windows still slightly frosted by the last memories of winter. Walking slowly to the front, she clasped a warm hand onto the boy's quivering shoulder and squeezed tightly. When he looked back at her, a soft smile had displaced the frown that had been etched onto her face since she'd found out the coffee machine in the teacher's had finally given its last hurrah. As quickly as the smile had come, it bled off her face when she turned to address the class once more.

"Now, don't be shy. Go on, introduce yourself. We don't bite, right class?"

A wave of various grunts and nods echoed through the front seats as most of the attention started to gradually focus onto the transfer student who was visibly cowering under the scrutiny. Ducking his head awkwardly, he accepted the piece of worn chalk from the teacher, still unsure of what to do. The chalk dug into his palm, its dust clinging uncomfortably to his wet fingers. Still, his gaze remained resolutely fixed onto the spot where his left shoe lace had started to fray. Unused to the sudden attention, he reddened and time over along slowly while his heartbeat pounded into his eardrums with increasing volume and urgency. After a while, the teacher's voice rose up again through the blood rushing through his flushed ears and his fingers stopped tapping out their uneven rhythm against his jeans.

"Let's start with your name, shan't we?"

"N-, uh my name?"

The teacher stood to the side, her expression of faint interest reflected on the faces of a few students who had noticed the nervous boy speaking up.  
The teen in question stood up straighter, seemingly uncomfortable in his shined leather shoes. He took a deep, albeit shaky breath and slowly raised his head for the first time since his haphazard entrance to focus on the rows of students in front of him. He visibly balked under the collective weight of their attention but still managed to grit his teeth before opening his mouth as if still testing out his voice.

"My, uh, my name is Meo- I mean..."

His flushed brightly while his eyes continued to dart around the classroom, desperately searching for purchase. Cerulean irises stopped short at the hunched over figure of a blond boy who appeared to be dozing carelessly behind an upside-down textbook. Squinting slightly he managed to make out a few letters of the cover and a smile slowly started to blossom on his bitten lips.

"I'm Merlin." He finally said, gaze cast forward into the crowd, feet firmly planted. "Merlin Emrys. Pleased to make your acquaintances!"

Seemingly happy with himself, he beamed at the students who were quick to lose their short-lived interest in him. Not that he minded too terribly to be rid of the public scrutiny. This way, his heart will have a few more years to live healthily at least. While he turned to write his name on the blackboard, the teacher returned to the front and cast a thoughtful look over the class. 

"Now for a place to sit..."

The teacher absent-mindedly took her chin into her hand and peered into the sea of evasive glances. Finally she appeared to have found her victim, the tapping fingers on her chin stilling in unison.

"Ah, you can sit down next to Mr. Pendragon there, who", she paused and purposefully walked to a desk at the window with long, meaningful strides. As if unaware, she slapped the half ajar book Merlin had been eying moments ago onto the desk in a fluid motion, startling the student behind it, "should definitely know better than to sleep in _my_ class."

The blond jumped and looked up in surprise. Slow realisation of the fact that he'd been caught seemed to dawn on him as his half-lidded eyes took in the scene before him. His expression however remained unbothered and defiant. The stubborn set of his jaw and the glint in his eyes spoke louder to Merlin than any words could have. He felt some of the flush returning to his heated cheeks and looked away to study the unremarkable empty desk next to his with new-found interest.

"Mr. Pendragon, even though you may be a tad famous for your... involvement in our school team, as long as you are a student in my classroom, you _will_ listen to the lesson I give if you still plan to pass this year. Did I make myself clear?"

Arching a perfectly sculpted eyebrow she mustered him challengingly and waited for a response, the attendance sheet grasped tightly in her fist.

"Yes, _crystal_ , coa- I mean, Mrs. Wilson."

The blond held her stare for a few tense seconds before relenting and dipping his head slightly. Satisfied, Mrs. Wilson proceeded to the front and sat down gingerly at her desk.  
Meanwhile Merlin had managed to be noticed as little as possible while setting up his desk. After a while, he noticed the pair of blue eyes gazing at him curiously fas if unsure of what to make of his presence. He looked up from his bag to return a bright smile, revealing two straight rows of white teeth.  
A flash of recognition passed through the eyes of the blond, but was gone as suddenly as it had come. With a slightly confused expression the other boy turned away to face forward.

"Oh right, as Mr. Emrys has only started today, he doesn't have the textbooks our school uses yet. Mr. Pendragon, seeing how you're not using our books for their intended purpose yourself, at least kindly allow the students to do so who _do_ want a good education."

With an almost inaudible huff the boy next to him shoved his desk closer and opened his textbook on what appeared to be a random page. With another faint noise of frustration, he shoved it into the middle of the table so that Merlin could have a look at... the second World War? He smiled and nodded earnestly while another set of equations appeared on the blackboard. Maybe algebra was a popular form of torture in the trenches. At least that was the way he felt about it personally. And... sneaking a look at his bleary-eyed neighbour, a certain blond wasn't much happier about it than him.

Mrs. Wilson's lesson gradually resumed and her monotonous droning filled the room once more. A few mind-numbing numbers later he felt a light tap on his shoulders and glanced over to his fellow student. The boy was looking straight ahead at the teacher, stern expression betraying none of his thoughts. Before Merlin could dismiss the sound as a figment of his nervous mind, the blond tapped on the corner of his notebook where he had been scribbling away on for the better part of the past minutes and Merlin followed the sound. The boy had drawn a two headed dragon which bore almost uncanny resemblance to Mrs. Wilson on the ripped piece of checkered paper. Merlin barely suppressed a burst of laughter threatening to bubble over.

"Mr. Emrys, what-"

Mrs. Wilson who had decided to make her rounds again had somehow materialised behind them out of thin air and snatched up the offending piece of paper.

"I must say, I had expected more of a new student. And one with _your_ scores at the transfer test at that. It seems I was mistaken. Mr. Emrys, Mr. Pendragon, you both will stay after class to wipe the board and I won't be seeing anymore of this disrespectful conduct."

An implied, possibly violent "or else" remained in her wake as she stepped away.

She turned and headed back to the front just as the bell rang for lunch break.

_Great_. His first day and he'd already alienated the homeroom teacher.

 

~*~

 

Once most of the other students had poured out of the double doors, his table neighbour turned to consider him carefully. A suspicious glance swept over him from head to toe and Merlin felt his ears heat up again before they had really cooled from earlier.

"Do I-, do we know each other?"

Merlin spluttered embarrassingly, mouth opening and closing soundlessly in surprise. He shifted awkwardly in place and pretended to tidy up his pencil case to buy some seconds before he had to answer.

"Is this how you get all the girls normally? That one's gotta be even _older_ than the book, _haha_..."

The unimpressed look on the blond's face made him trail off and curse his brain-to-mouth filter that was apparently off for vacation today. He flushed even more brightly as the seconds ticked by and the blond remained seated, eyes searing into his own. The rest of the class had long since cleared out, leaving only them in the shadowed classroom. Once in a while, a stray ray of light would pass through the half-ajar windows to illuminated the golden hue of his eyelashes and the clear blue of his eyes. It didn't take long for Merlin to crumble under the wordless pressure and he gave a nervous laugh. The edge to the other teen's expression remained as steadfast as his arched eyebrow that mirrored the earlier posture of their teacher. Clearing his throat, he reprimanded himself silently and looked back into the eyes of the other boy. Merlin realised that something in his face must have changed when the blond gave an aborted squeak, stern facade cracking slightly. The moment of vulnerability passed as fast as it had come and Merlin found himself questioning his own eyes if not for the soft glint he thought to have caught in the blond's eyes.

"Uhm-, no I don't think so? I wasn't in school up until now, so-"

The dark-haired bit his tongue. So much for thinking before speaking.

"Not in school...? You mean you were homeschooled?"

"Ah _yes_ , that exactly."

Merlin felt a bead of sweat trickle down the slope of his throat and swallowed hard. A few tense looks of suspicious inquisition passed between them. The dull sound of the old clock hung above the door interspersed their wordless confrontation and Merlin felt himself wear away with every tick. Finally, the blond relented and stretched out his right hand as if in an offering of peace. A radiant smile had displaced the scowl that Merlin thought had been frozen indefinitely onto the blond's face.

"Well, you sure are a weird one, aren't you? By the way I'm Arthur, Arthur Pendragon, your partner in crime. Nice to meet you... Merlin, right?"

The bright and strangely familiar sound of Arthur's chuckles filled Merlin's ears and he hoped that the blond hadn't yet noticed their flushed redness.

"Yeah, that's me. My... parents had a weird naming sense, I guess."

"That must be it, now come along, we've got a board to clean. We don't want to be late to PE, now do we?"

"Uh-uhm, no...?"

Without dignifying his stutter with another answer, Arthur stood and pulled Merlin to his feet by the strap of his backpack, a cocky smile playing around his lips.

"Then we better hurry, huh?"

Merlin smiled and let himself be strung along, a warm feeling of familiar contentment settling somewhere deep within his chest.

 

~*~

 

As a matter of fact, they _were_ late to PE because Arthur insisted on showing him the cafeteria while recounting funny stories about every item on the menu. He was still going on about how on of his friends had laughed hard enough to have food coming out their nose when they made it to the noisy gym. The coach didn't seem to mind when Arthur explained how he was responsible for showing him around seeing how he was class president and it was Merlin's first day at school. After a few words of half-hearted reprimands, they were instead sent straight to the lockers.  
Arthur immediately began stripping off his dark blue blazer. He folded them messily in half and threw them next to him on the bench in a disordered pile. After a while, he looked to the side and noticed Merlin shifting in place where he had left him just inside the door.

When Arthur directed a questioning scowl at him, he just shrugged, gaze turned downwards in embarrassment.

"I don't, uhm, the gym clothes. I don't have any yet."

"That doesn't explain why you're half across the room though. As much as it hurts me to say this, but Mrs. Wilson wasn't wrong. I know for a fact that I don't bite," Arthur smiled teasingly at that. "without your consent I don't, that is. Besides, how're you gonna change if you don't come in? Don't tell me you're one of those people who can change without sitting down?"

"No, I-... but-"

The dark-haired was abruptly cut off when a set of blue clothes were hurled unceremoniously in his general direction. He caught the shorts, but the shirt kept going until it reached the other end of the wooden bench, crumpling in a sad heap.

Merlin mumbled a quiet thanks and sat down to change as far away as possible from the half-naked boy. Giving a small huff, Arthur stood up and finished slipping on the legs of his trousers.

"Well, when you're ready, just put your stuff in my locker and close it. It's the third on from the gym door. I bet you don't have your own yet. I'll be going then, seeing that I'm obviously unwanted."

The dark-haired whipped his head around half intent to argue, yet remained silently rooted to his spot when he saw the slightly slumped silhouette of the blond. He felt a sharp pang in his chest to see the downcast back of the boy whose smile he was sure lit the room for far more people than him alone. He remained in contemplation until the other boy had already left through the door connecting the gym and boy's locker room and he had lost his chance. Instead he sighed softly and did what he was told. He stepped to the far end of the room to collect the abandoned shirt and pulled on the shorts that still felt warm as if by an invisible touch. After he had finished changing, he made for the door in a leisurely jog.

When he emerged into the spacious gym after a few minutes his fellow students were already playing soccer. Slowly and deliberately Merlin approached. Arthur spotted him and waved, smile firmly back in place. Merlin must have imagined the sour frown occasionally passing through Arthur's face. They'd only just met; there was just no way Merlin would hold any significant power over how Arthur felt. Merlin was just another person in need, another charity case to help. At least that was how Arthur's character seemed to him.

"Merlin's on our team!"

The dark-haired replied with a wry smile of his own and ran to catch up with the flow of the game. Maybe he had worried too much.

"Pass, Merlin." Arthur shouted and he was pulled into the simple movements of the ball and Arthur's occasional encouragements as if he hadn't been doing anything else since birth.

And in a sense, maybe he really hadn't.

 

~*~

 

It turns out that soccer isn't as easy as it had always seemed to Merlin. A lot of good strategy and the ability to read your enemy was required to play well, but what Merlin lacked in finesse and experience he made up for with his curiosity and adaptability.

Arthur managed to score quite a few goals and even though they lost by a small margin in the end, he seemed happy when he came around, a raised palm held high.  
For a moment panic rose in Merlin and he ducked under the proffered hand, instead opting straight for the lockers,

"Ah, _yeah_ , good work out there! I have to, uh, use the loo for a bit!"

Arthur's brows which glistened with sweat crinkled as he stared at his teammate, puzzled. However, he was soon swept up by the other boys congratulating him on his play and thus didn't have any time to mull over the dark-haired's strange behaviour.

 

~*~

 

Once he had changed out of his sweaty clothes, PE was long forgotten as he headed down the stairs to the main entrance of the school building. Torrents of unrelenting rain were pouring over the sea of students leaving home-bound, laughter and water drops fighting for dominance under the flowering trees.

A wide array of colourful umbrellas bloomed in the rain like spring blossoms seeing the sun after a long winter. After just a few minutes the waves of chattering students hurriedly leaving for home had ebbed away. Only an empty hallway and a few wet patches of muddy water remained in their wake, attesting to a hall, once bustling with conversation.

Arthur reached for his own collapsible umbrella and was in the process of heading out the glass doors himself when he noticed a hunched figure just outside the door, shielded from the downpour only by a thin strip of protruding roof. He was shivering and crouched down low to in a moot effort to preserve some warmth. The blond cursed under his breath and didn't even stop to think before he was rushing over as if pulled by invisible strings.

Moments later, Merlin felt a warm presence coming up behind him and a faintly rose-colored umbrella opening above his head. He looked up to see Arthur staring resolutely at the soaked pavement, gaze unwavering.

"Don't comment on the umbrella. It was a gift."

Even though Merlin was still cold and his shoes still wet and uncomfortable, the freezing winds suddenly felt less harsh, the water wept by the skies a bit less punishing. He felt strangely light-headed watching the rosy shades the umbrella cast on his skin dancing and swaying in the breeze.  
The corners of Merlin's mouth lifted up as he turned and stood up carefully to meet Arthur's side.

"You're lucky I was still around."

"Yeah, guess I am. Thanks."

The two boys remained side by side gazes cast straight ahead into the fine spray of water reflecting light like countless, multicoloured glass shards. The serene landscape was only disturbed by the soft prattling of raindrops hitting the school's old roof. A loud sneeze tore through the quiet and suddenly the moment that had felt frozen in time somewhere thawed and laughter joined the song of the rain. Whether it was from Merlin's bright smile or the sharp storm, Arthur's cheeks reddened and he looked away.

"Let's go then."

"Right."

~*~

 

The narrow path their shoes screeched away on in unison was quickly turning a bit too wet and slippery for comfort.

The two lonesome figures in the distance crouched under a single umbrella in faded pink were more wet than shielded by the sparse expanse of fabric but neither seemed to mind the cold. Two sets of shoulders shivered slightly in the wet cold of the last remaining wisps of a long winter.  
They continued slowly, at times brushing up against the metal frame of the umbrella. They never stood too close enough to touch each other, but never strayed too far to feel the warmth of one another.

Merlin walked with his eyes fixed on the street. _To look out for puddles he could step into_ , he told himself.  
After a while Arthur gave another soft huff and put an arm around Merlin's soaked shoulder to pull him flush against his side.

Merlin most definitely wouldn't admit to squeaking like a teenage girl with a crush. It was more of a _very_ masculine expression of surprise.  
Arthur laughed heartily until Merlin pushed at his hands and made a half-step away, immediately missing the familiar warmth.

He paused and considered his options for half a second.

 

It wasn't even a hard decision to make.

 

~*~

 

They say two students of a certain school were seen holding hands and wandering along the riverside path in the rain that day.  
It may have been a happy couple. It may have been two close friends. It may have never even happened at all, instead owing only to the vivid fantasy of schoolgirls with too much imagination and time on their hands.

We may never know for sure.


	2. Your toothy Smile that pierces the Clouds and brightens the Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heiyo dear reader!
> 
> Enjoy the second instalment of the journey of the two fluff balls ^^  
> Don't forget to leave some kudos and comments if you liked it.  
> Constructive criticism is always very welcome! :D
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time!  
> Wavyscribe out.

_I wasn't entirely sure where I was when I next came to._

_Needless to say, I didn't like my situation one bit. Weak, but with rekindled curiosity, I managed to weakly lift my head. My eyes had yet to adjust to the dimmed lighting, the world still a monotone backdrop against the colourful sensations my other senses picked up on. Turning ever so slightly, I cautiously sniffed the stale and dusty air. My nose immediately wrinkled up at the less than pleasant smells._

_A short while passed while I laid motionless, listening intently to the darkness surround me again._

_My surroundings rose up high around me, dark and unwelcoming. A strong metallic smell hovered in the stagnant air like an invisible veil, numbing my senses softly._

_I felt tiny specks of dust lodge themselves deeply into my raspy throat every time I dared to take another shuddering breath. My lungs protested the movement, screaming out in silent pain while I tried to calm my thudding heart in vain._  
_The insides of my mouth tasted like something had crept inside while I slept and began to rot after dying a painful death._

_After a while however, I noticed, not without delight, that most of my once freezing body parts had stopped shivering and began aching sharply in response to my every movement instead. Not necessarily a pleasant trade-off but I would have to put up with it nevertheless. Had I not learned early to make the best out of the hadn’t I was dealt by fate, I wouldn’t have lived to see today. Gradually, sensations began flooding back into my body. A body that should long have breathed its last, fading out of existence like the diminishing light of a dying candle._

_Pain was good, pain meant that I was still breathing. Still alive to starve another day. One more day to live, one more cruel sunset of air to breath._

_I turned to the side with a heavy groan and noticed the strange softness of the ground I'd slept upon. Where my fur had usually rested against cold and wet stone, something else had appeared to take its place._  
_My body was propped up on something feathery and yielding, a frayed piece of worn cloth lied loosely draped over my gradually drying and warming pelt. I gave a sigh._  
_When was the last time the chill hadn't chased me far into my dreams, hadn't accompanied my every thought and motion like the unshakable fetters of illness and death?_

_To be honest, I don't even remember such a time._

_To be alive to die another day. Truthfully, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it._

_Had it ever been more good than bad for me to keep on fighting? What had I even been fighting for, all this time? There would never been anyone to praise me for my efforts, for winning the daily fight just to lose the final war._  
_Fading away under softly scrunching snow, the light dimming above my numbing skin. Would it have been a good way to go, to leave the yellowed lustre of this cruel world?_

_I turned and thrashed again with what little strength I could muster up to get a better look at the interior of the surprisingly dry and sheltered space. I didn’t even remember having come here. After a few seconds my eyes managed to adjust to the darkness and I could make out a few bright spots of light filtering through several cracks, dancing on the far wooden wall._

_Where was I exactly? Dread and fear finally began rearing their ugly heads inside my mind. I felt my heart rate picking up, threatening to spiral into a panicked frenzy._

_Before I could debate the dubious benefits of escaping the warmth of my make-shift bed to explore some more, a hatch I hadn't noticed before opened in the ground. Rusted metal hinges creaked and protested the movement, but soon gave in and ceased their futile resistance. A last shudder reverberated throughout the brittle wood and the quiet returned._

_I sat through a few failed tries at propping up the piece of wood serving as a door, curious but still suspicious of who or whatever it was on the other side. Finally, they seemed to have succeeded._  
_With an exhausted huff a blond head popped into existence above the hatch, golden hair encircled by the outside light and fanning to the sides like a halo. A sound of surprise rang itself from my dry throat. I felt my fur bristle defensively, standing on end at the sudden intrusion and stark change in brightness._

_Next, a hand clasped around a bottle of milk appeared next to the half-hidden head and I resolutely dismissed the painful clenching of my stomach._  
_All of a sudden my mouth felt parched to the point of near cracking and another involuntary mewl tore itself from my throat and into the empty room, echoing off the bare walls back to me._

_Another arm appeared together with the lower half of a grinning child, face reddened. He groaned with the effort of hefting himself onto the protruding ledge and took a deep breath. The blond then cautiously closed the wooden plank after pulling his feet in, once more plunging the room into an almost tangible darkness._

_I only offer a sound of vague discontentment._

_The boy smiled wordlessly and reached out with his yet unoccupied hand. I flinched away from his touch into the safety of the blanket and suppressed the urge to bolt to some form of imaginary high ground._

_The blond shifted to his side into a half standing, half crouching position and tinkered around for a few excited heartbeats. I kept my head pressed firmly into the cushion, mewling occasionally to convey my discomfort and suspicion to the intruder. However, I couldn't help the spike of curiosity when I felt a cool breeze pulling at the frayed ends of my blanket shortly after._

_When I finally gathered the heart to resurface from the cloth venturing a surreptitious peek, he had settled into a sitting position across the cramped wooden ground, his back turned to me. A rectangular hole seemed to have appeared in the wall furthest from me letting in some of the outside moisture and occasional stray rays of morning sun._

_How long had I been sleeping?_

_Out of a whim I moved my left paw to poke his side. The mesmerising motive of a crimson dragon curling around the image of a rising sun was emblazoned into his shirt. The colour reminded me of the food scraps I used to steal from the neighbourhood and my body shuddered at the memory of the unforgiving cold and sweetly rotting fruits._

_The boy turned and after some hesitation flashed another kind smile at me. All the while he kept his arms locked to his sides and stayed where he was, smile pleasant and unthreatening, deep blue eyes unwavering._  
_Suddenly a thought must've struck him as he ducked his head to rummage through his backpack and produce a chipped wooden bowl._

_He uncapped the bottle of fragrant milk with skilled fingers and poured a few splashes of it into the flat slope. My stomach rumbled in response and I looked away from his hands._

_"You must be hungry, huh? Here, have some."_

_I continued to glare at him from the safe confinement of my warm haven, not moving a muscle._

_"C'mon I don't bite."_

_I remained unimpressed. Not a sound left my clenching abdomen._

_The gears turned in his head and his brows furrowed in concentration. A pink tongue surfaced occasionally to wet his cracked lips._  
_Finally, an idea seemed to have struck him and he jerked around to face me. Without breaking eye contact, he dipped a finger into the bowl and brought it to his mouth to lick off the milk. A smirk reappeared on his face._

_"There, it's not poisoned. It's just yummy, yummy milk. Don't you wanna have some?"_

_A few sun rays meandered down the length of the far wall as I made a point of upholding eye contact._  
_When faced with an obviously weaker creature, it is important to assert your own control. You have to establish dominance early if you want to make yourself understood._

_"Alright, have it your way then."_

_He made a show of looking away from me. Somehow my victory didn't feel the least gratifying._

_"As for me, I'll just be turning this way for a bit and should something happen with the milk," He pushed the bowl into my direction and some of the precious milk inside spilled onto the ground. The boy then made to turn back around as he rested his right hand on the ground. "None of us will be the wiser, right?"_

_In a slightly awkward motion he turned around fully, thin legs tangling in front of him. The clouds in the small patch of sky behind him parted gradually, leaving a soft golden haze in their wake that illuminated the room up to its darkest corners._

_His hair glittered faintly in the warm glow and I felt my suspicion slip and melt away sip by sip._  
_Thinking back, I only really remember the cool sweetness of the milk and a soft brush of eager hands before I slipped back into a blissful sleep._

_"Just couldn't be honest up until the end, could you?"_

_Bright laughter filled the small room inhabited by two young souls both worn down too heavily by the burdens of a merciless world._

_When an ebony-haired girl climbed through the hatch a few hours later what she found were two bodies curled together for warmth, shielding each other from the unending pain they had already been subjected to in their respective lives._

_The afternoon sun shone radiantly into the room bathing the scenery in flickering strips of shimmering reds and shifting oranges. A gradually softening smile still lingered on the slightly parted lips of the blond._

_She smiled, silently taking in the scene before her, then decided against waking them, instead leaving with quiet steps after draping a thick woollen blanket over the blissfully unaware, sleeping forms._

 

~*~

 

"... _Merlin_. MERLIN."

A sudden shove that couldn't have been further from gentle caught him in his side. The sudden movement cut abruptly through his inane musings and startled Merlin awake.  
Before he had the chance to turn and glare at the blond next to him, a sternly reprimanding voice to his left grasped his attention.

"Mr. Emrys, if you think that your qualities as a writer are refined enough to justify sleeping in my class, why don't you share your essay with the class? I believe the theme was a poem about spring?"

"Wha-, I- no, I don't-"

"Well, Mr. Emrys, don't delay class anymore than necessary. Go on now."

She clapped her hands for emphasis and Merlin felt the blood rush to his ears, heating the back of his neck to an embarrassing glow. With a low sigh hidden haphazardly under his hand, he turned to crack open his notepad, silently resigning himself to a world of pain.

Had he turned to his other side in his blind panic he would've seen a flicker of concerned fondness cross the blond's features. After taking in the look of determination forming on Merlin's face he relented and decided not to interject, face relaxing back into a smooth mask of vague pleasantry.

The poet in question however had his very own miniature crisis just barely constrained within his panicking mind. He desperately tried calming his heart which was working itself into a frenzy, almost like a ticking time bomb ready to go haywire at the slightest movement.

But he was confident. Like he _always_ was.

Maybe he would actually _believe_ in himself if he kept on repeating that thought.

After all anyone could write a half decent poem, right?

 _Right_?

 

~*~

 

Merlin was half-sure that he had never felt more like sinking into the ground, to just disappear off the surface of the planet, to descend into the soil as if he had never been there in the first place.

Even Arthur - _the prick_ \- had laughed at him; in fact he might have been laughing the loudest of the bunch. Ungrateful lot. They just weren't ready for his fresh stroke of artistic genius.

He slammed his locker beside him shut, turned around and slouched against the cool metal on his back. The dark-haired reached up with both hands and rubbed them down the blush decorating his face.

Until they realised the true value in his poems he just had to learn how to be conventionally good at writing.

How hard could it be?

 

~*~

 

"You forgot to bring an eraser again?"

Before Merlin could react a certain blond had already plopped into the seat next to him. The dark-haired gave a sound of frustration but decided to not grace him with any more than his passing attention. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the pages of the textbook that had already started bleeding together half an hour ago.

“So has Mr. Grades-are-for-Peasants finally realised the charms of what we commoners call having a college education?”

Undeterred, Arthur leant over to peek at the book Merlin was immersed in and laughed out loud over the title he saw.

“Is this about your poem for class?”

He finally managed between bouts of hearty laughter. Merlin continued to look straight at his book, but soon realised that he wasn’t regaining solitude anytime soon with the blond uncomfortably glued to his shoulder. Indignantly, Merlin snatched up the book and made to pack up when a hand on his stationary made him look up.

“Ah, I- I didn’t mean to laugh _about_ you. I swear it’s just…” He trailed off and let his eyes wander off, but before Merlin could resume shoving books into his bag Arthur looked back at him, gaze sincere and unwavering. “Look, I got a pretty good grade in her class. I can-, no, I want to help. Please?”

Arthur and his misplaced sense of justice. Sometimes Merlin wondered why he still tried to put a semblance of fight. Something inexplicably softened inside him at the mere sight of upturned blue eyes under a splattering of golden lashes. Had there ever been a chance to escape?

 

~*~

 

When Merlin presented his essay the next time in class, Arthur could only chalk his happiness up to some form of misdirected parental pride. Even though he had never felt this way during any of his sister’s recitals.

Merlin must be special in that regard. Not that Arthur’d ever tell him that.

But looking at the flushed expression of pure joy on his face, Arthur possibly, maybe felt something he could no longer put into the simple words he’d used to describe the people in his life.

Merlin was a whirlwind. In many regards.

But he wouldn’t have it any other way, really.

 

~*~

 

Arthur didn't bring lunch boxes. He never did.

The people in his family were always either to busy to fuss over him or just equally rubbish at anything involving more than a bowl of cereal, but he didn't necessarily mind. Hadn’t ever even really thought about it, truthfully.  
Everyday during lunch break he would eat something from the small convenience store across the street. Something he'd buy sometime earlier in the day, most often on his way to school.  
Unfortunately, he had almost overslept this morning and decided to miss food rather than take a strike in his perfect attendance. One "talk" with his father about missed opportunities and family duty was enough to last him multiple life-times. As such, their unexpected free period came more than welcome.

A teacher had come down with the newest flu or something similar to that meaning they’d have study hall for the next period, but why even bother when there was no one there to check attendance?

Arthur grinned as he walked past the lockers, debating what to have for lunch and whether a certain dark-haired boy was in the mood to be corrupted into skipping a few classes today.

His smile only broadened when he spied a familiar head of messy hair among the bustling students. And as it happens, he’d already have the perfect plan.

He was just about to run up to Merlin when a figure smiling shyly up at the dark-haired came into view and made Arthur stop in his tracks.

 

When did Merlin get a girlfriend?

**Author's Note:**

> How did you like it? If you have any suggestions, comments, or just standard Feelz (TM) do not hesitate to comment or even just leave a kudo to show your appreciation.
> 
> The more constructive feedback I get, the more I can bring more and better content faster to y'all ^^
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time  
> Wavyscribe


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